400 Court Square—After 1938, was Jim McKay’s Grocery Store (brother of Ed McKay, down the block). Then it became Maxie Ruffin’s ice cream parlor. (Charlie Hamilton worked in a shop behind this store, repairing TVs and radios in the 1970s).

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Court Square

Rather than being formed by intersecting streets, DeWitt’s court square was designed as a continuous street around a public square with one access street in the middle of each block. The northwest, northeast, and southwest corners have unique lots containing buildings with chamfered corner entrances. The town was platted in such a way that people wouldn’t just pass through the downtown and keep going—the courthouse and square would be your final des- tination. This is an extremely rare layout for a court square—I’ve never seen another town like it.